Porated



L. F. SMALL.

UPPER FOR SHOES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.29| I918.

Patented Des. 23, 1919'.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEWIS F. SMALL, OE BRAINTREE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO C. C. BLAKE, INCOR- PORATED, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

UPPER FOR SHOES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 23, 1919.

Application filed March 29, 1918. Serial No. 225,554.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEWIS F. SMALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Braintree, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Lnprovements in Uppers for Shoes, of

which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

The present invention relates to the uppers of shoes, and more particularly to uppers for soldiers shoes.

The'object of the present invention is to produce an upper for soldiers shoes which will be free from seams inside the shoe, which will grip the leg above the ankle bone and thus permit the use of cheaper upper stock in the quarters, and which will prevent the ripping of the back seam.

To the accomplishment of this object, and such others as may hereinafter appear, the features of the present invention relate to certain combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and then set forth broadly and in detail in the claims appended hereto.

The various features of the present invention will be readily understood from an inspection of the accompanying drawings in which,

Figure l is a perspective of a shoe, the upper of which embodies the features of the present invention, and

Fig. 2 is a detail in perspective of the back seam in the upper.

The upper of the shoe herein illustrated comprises a vamp 1, a foXing 2 and the quarters 3. The quarters 3 are joined by a back seam 4 (Fig. 2). The eyelet holes are stayed inside the shoe by stays 5 herein shown integral with the tongue 6. These stays 5 terminate at the points 7 and 8 (Fig. 1), so that the entire interior of the shoe is free from seams likely to cause discomfort to the feet. The remaining eyelet holes or other lacing devices are stayed by a yoke 9-Which extends from the point '4', outside the upper along the margin of one quarter to the top 10, around the top and down the margin of the other quarter to the point 8.

This yoke stays the lacing holes not stayed by the stays 5. The yoke, extending around the top grips the foot above the ankle bone. This construction permits the use of cheaper upper stock material in the quarters 3 as the yoke holds the shoe firmly in place unaffected by any stretching which may take place in the quarters. The yoke 9 also stays the back seam t which is now giving trouble by breaking open at the top and working downwardly toward the foxing 2.

hat is claimed as new, is:

1. An upper having an eyelet stay terminating inside the shoe on both sides thereof at points intermediate the ends of the front edges of the quarters, and means extending along the outside of the quarters for staying the remaining lacing devices of the shoe.

2. An upper having an eyelet stay terminating inside the shoe on both sides thereof at points intermediate the ends of the front edges of the quarters, and a yoke secured to the outside of the upper terminating at points opposite the points of termination of the inside eyelet stays and extending along the margin of the top of the upper and the margins of the quarters.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

LEWIS F. SMALL. 

